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To say Shane Lowry and Tommy Fleetwood had a solid Thursday playing together may be putting it lightly.
The Irishman and Englishman were stellar in the opening round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at Yas Links, opening in 8-under 64. The duo is part of a five-way tie for the lead in the penultimate DP World Tour event of the season. Also tied for the lead are Kazuma Kobori, Richard Sterne and Adrien Saddier.
"I was pretty excited when I seen the group, my pairing today and nice to go out there with the boys. Felt like I played well," Lowry said. "I was paired with (Fleetwood) in India the first two days and I shot 64, as well. So yeah, something about me and Tommy.
"But no, I just like playing with him, your friend, and really good player, too, and you kind of feed off each other. It was nice."
Lowry had nine birdies in his opening round while Fleetwood had no blemishes on the card.
"Very comfortable three ball," Fleetwood said, with fellow Ryder Cupper Rasmus Hojgaard completing the trio. "So close to both the guys, Ryder Cup teammates, played with Ras last week. It was great. Just you all go out there and you do your thing, and you're just very comfortable in each other's company.
"As much as you focus on your own game, and yeah, shouldn't make that much difference, but definitely when you're in a comfortable pairing or group, yeah, it's nice. It's helpful."
Speaking of European Ryder Cup team members, it was a good day for many of them. Ludvig Aberg, a two-time Ryder Cupper, made a hole-in-one on the par-3 eighth, playing 183 yards.
After the opening round, there are 12 players within a shot of the lead. Tyrrell Hatton and Aaron Rai are a part of the group sitting at 6 under and two behind. Marco Penge, second in the Race to Dubai standings, bested leader Rory McIlroy by a shot on Thursday, signing for 5-under 67. The duo is playing together in the first two rounds.
"I gave myself a lot of chances on the back nine," McIlroy said. "Just didn't really convert. Hitting good putts. But just mostly under-reading them. Then not to birdie the last after where I was off the tee was a little disappointing.
"That was hopefully the bad round out of the way. There's three more rounds to try to take it a bit lower."
The purse at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship is $9 million.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood among quintet tied for lead in Abu Dhabi
Continue reading...
The Irishman and Englishman were stellar in the opening round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at Yas Links, opening in 8-under 64. The duo is part of a five-way tie for the lead in the penultimate DP World Tour event of the season. Also tied for the lead are Kazuma Kobori, Richard Sterne and Adrien Saddier.
"I was pretty excited when I seen the group, my pairing today and nice to go out there with the boys. Felt like I played well," Lowry said. "I was paired with (Fleetwood) in India the first two days and I shot 64, as well. So yeah, something about me and Tommy.
"But no, I just like playing with him, your friend, and really good player, too, and you kind of feed off each other. It was nice."
Lowry had nine birdies in his opening round while Fleetwood had no blemishes on the card.
"Very comfortable three ball," Fleetwood said, with fellow Ryder Cupper Rasmus Hojgaard completing the trio. "So close to both the guys, Ryder Cup teammates, played with Ras last week. It was great. Just you all go out there and you do your thing, and you're just very comfortable in each other's company.
"As much as you focus on your own game, and yeah, shouldn't make that much difference, but definitely when you're in a comfortable pairing or group, yeah, it's nice. It's helpful."
Speaking of European Ryder Cup team members, it was a good day for many of them. Ludvig Aberg, a two-time Ryder Cupper, made a hole-in-one on the par-3 eighth, playing 183 yards.
After the opening round, there are 12 players within a shot of the lead. Tyrrell Hatton and Aaron Rai are a part of the group sitting at 6 under and two behind. Marco Penge, second in the Race to Dubai standings, bested leader Rory McIlroy by a shot on Thursday, signing for 5-under 67. The duo is playing together in the first two rounds.
"I gave myself a lot of chances on the back nine," McIlroy said. "Just didn't really convert. Hitting good putts. But just mostly under-reading them. Then not to birdie the last after where I was off the tee was a little disappointing.
"That was hopefully the bad round out of the way. There's three more rounds to try to take it a bit lower."
The purse at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship is $9 million.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood among quintet tied for lead in Abu Dhabi
Continue reading...
